title: The prevalence of overweight, obesity, and substandard fitness in a population-based firefighter cohort.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in firefighters.
  
  
  METHODS
  Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and body fat percentage (BF%) were assessed in 478 career and 199 volunteer male firefighters from randomly selected departments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High prevalence rates of overweight + obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m) were found in career (79.5%; 33.5%) and volunteer firefighters (78.4%; 43.2%). False-positive obesity misclassification based on BMI, compared to waist circumference and BF%, was low (9.8% and 2.9%, respectively). False negatives were much higher: 32.9% and 13.0%. Obese firefighters demonstrated unfavorable cardiovascular disease (CVD) profiles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of overweight and obesity exceeded that of the US general population. Contrary to common wisdom, obesity was even more prevalent when assessed by BF% than by BMI, and misclassifying muscular firefighters as obese by using BMI occurred infrequently.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biobehavioral Health Research, National Development and Research Institute, Inc, Leawood, Kan., USA.
authors.forename: Walker S C
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Poston
authors.forename: C Keith
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Haddock
authors.forename: Sara A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Jahnke
authors.forename: Nattinee
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jitnarin
authors.forename: Brianne C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Tuley
authors.forename: Stefanos N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Kales
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005390:Fires; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D016272:Occupational Health; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000032:analysis; D055105:Waist Circumference
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol